You allways meet people twice
by cinnamonjunkie
Summary: Mac went through a nightmare his team doesn't know of. Now they have to help him that this doesn't happen again. Mac, family and team
1. Green eyes, curly hair and a Cubs shirt

**- Chapter 1 -**

**Green eyes, curly hair and a Cubs shirt **

The elevator doors of the NYC crime lab opened, but no one could be seen.

But then, from the back of the cabin a little boy, about two years old, came into vision.

He stepped out and stopped, thinking about what to do next he winkled his little button nose and pulled playfully on his blue shirt, on which red letters formed the word Cubs.

After making his decision he picked up his path. Self confident he strolled through the long corridors and smiled at the labtechs, police men and everyone else passing him by, some noticing him, some almost falling over him, like Adam.

"Hey buddy, where're you going?" The little boy turned to face him and gabbled something Adam couldn't understand. To Adams surprise the little one just began to walk away so he tried to stop him by blocking his way, but the little boy just walked around him.

"Hey you little smart fellow…",with that he picked the boy up.

That was a big mistake. The boy immediately started to struggle to get out of Adams arms. He whined, kicked and slammed his little fists into the stunned looking techs chest.

At that moment Hawkes stepped around the corner and saw Adam and the little fighter in his arms.

"What are you doing with this kid, Adam? Sounds like you want to kill him. Give him to me." With that he took the kicking and screaming boy from Adam, trying to calm him down. But it didn't work. The boy kept defending himself in a pretty loud way. "Well, that is a lot better." Adam mentioned sarcastically. The three started to draw the whole lab's attention to them.

Soon Danny and Flack joined them. "What's wrong here? And most of all I'd like to know: who's kid is this?" Don asked. But no one had an answer. The little boy struggled even harder and started to cry. There were just to many people and everything they said and did was confusing him. Techs stopped working and watched the scene unfolding before them.

Stella approached the group almost running. "What's happening here? I could here you in the AV-lab!" She looked at the little really unhappy looking boy in Sheldon arms. "Who is this?"

"We don't know Stella. If we would know we wouldn't be standing here scaring him." Danny said and received an angry look from the older woman.

The team started to speak out theories: "Maybe he is the son of a victim?" "Or an employee?" "Or a suspect?" "Or…"

Just then two hands reached into their middle of the group and lifted the little boy up.

Turning around they could see how the little boys arms flew around Mac Taylor's neck, hugging him tightly. As Mac hugged him back he immediately stopped crying.

Mac didn't see the confused looks on his co-workers faces. All he cared about right now was calming this little boy down. He rubbed his back with his hand and soon the little fighter turned quiet in his arms and even smiled at his "saviour", starting to play with the pin on Macs jacket.

Stella was first to regain her ability to speak. "Mac, do you know this little boy?"

"Of course he knows him. I mean, aren't the green eyes, brown curls and most of all this Chicago Cubs shirt prove enough."

The team turned to look where the voice had come from and saw a marine in his uniform standing there, a big smile on his face.

The crowd looked confused from the marine to their boss and back, waiting for an explanation.

Mac smiled back at the uniformed man, but his smile soon turned into a mixture of worry and confusion. "Why is he walking around here all by himself?"

The young man, obviously the boys father, stepped closer to Mac and took the boy from him. "I actually don't know. I left him in the cafeteria with Peyton. I guess he kind of escaped her." The two man smiled at each other knowingly.

At that a pretty hysteric Peyton stepped out of the elevator. "Oh my god. You little…" She took a deep breath and addressed the man holding the now calm and curious looking boy. "We were at the till and I paid and… all of the sudden he was gone…"

The young man put a comforting hand on her back pulled the British ME closer and . "Don't worry, it requires a little practise to watch his every move. Things like that happen often."

Peyton chuckled. "You're telling me that now?" She stroked the chubby cheeks of the little boy, who was now playing with his fathers insignias, not really paying attention to the adults around him.

While watching this little family-like exchange, memories kicked in and Stella pointed at the young marine. "OH MY GOD!. MAX?"

"Who did you think I am?" The young man answered, a smirk on his face.

Disbelieve shown on her face Stella walked over to him. Looking him up and down and finally hugging him, the way old friends use to hug each other.

"Wow, I've got to admit that you've grown into a good looking man, Max. What are you doing in the Big Apple."

"It's Fleet Week. And I took a few hours of to spend them with my family." With that he looked to Mac, who was busy tickling the little boy.

Danny finally spoke what everyone around him thought, but was too stunned to say. "Wait a second. I don't get it. What…Who…."

With a slight chuckle Mac turned to his co-workers. "Ok, let's not longer keep you on tenterhooks." He put a hand on the marines upper back in a proud manner. "Team, meet my son Max and", he pointed at the little boy, "my grandson Julien."

TBC

I will be really happy about constructive critics and reviews, thx in advance!

Next chapters: Max will soon be confronted with what used to be Macs worst nightmare.


	2. Who where what why?

**- Chapter 2 -**

**Who... where... what... why?**

A few minutes later little Julien was sitting on his grandfather's lap, right behind the big desk. Silently he played with a little stuffed animal bulldog, babbling to himself.

"So, what have you two planned for today?", Mac asked, eyes fixed on the little boys hands, which were moving quickly over the bulldog.

Max smiled at the picture before him. "I thought about picking up Lauren after her last lecture and then take her and Julien to Manhattan's Pier or Staten Island's Stapleton Pier, to show her the ships. I was actually hoping you would join us."

At that Mac lifted his head and met his son's pleading eyes. "Max, you know I got to work and…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I already know what you're gonna say next. I don't know why I even asked. But you and Peyton will join us for dinner tonight?" Mac was about to refuse the invitation, but Max must have read his mind. "Come on dad, I just got two days in New York and it would be great if I could spend a little bit time with my whole family." Mac reconsidered his decision and gave Max a nod.

Max's face lit up. "Great. See you at seven, at Lauren's place." He walked around the desk and picked up Julien. "Let's go and keep mommy from learning." The little boy smiled at his dad. "Mommy!"

"Yeah buddy, mommy.- See you later dad. Don't forget dinner. The lab will survive a few hours without you." Earning a glance from Mac he stepped out of the office. Greeting the rest of the team on the way, father and son took the elevator down and headed to their next destination, Columbia University.

Meanwhile Danny could no longer hold his questions to himself. Taking off his gloves he headed for the AV-lab, where Stella was still working on news footage. Stomping in and letting himself fall into a nearby chair, he confronted his colleague: "Ok, why didn't Mac tell us he has a son? I mean, beside Reed. And why do you know him and we don't? What's the story behind all that?"

Stella stopped the tape and turned towards Danny. She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Flack and Hawkes entering the room. "Sorry, but we want to hear this too." the former ME stated. "We overheard Danny's questions." Adam said, stepping into the room, Lindsay on his heels.

Stella chuckled slightly. "Don't you all have something more useful to do than to pester me about Mac's life?" She thought about the right words for a moment.

"Alright. Yes, Max is Mac's son. And Claire's too. As far as I know, Mac never tells anyone he works with about him. Actually I found out about him accidental, when I picked up Mac for work. He never told me why his family is such a secret, but I thought he must have a good reason, so I kept it to myself."

Stella looked around into stunned faces. Hawkes spoke up first: "And for how long did you know Mac's son?" Stella smiled. "I met him five days after I started to work for Mac, that was 1994. Max was eight. So he must be 21 by now."

"And of course he is a Marine, just like his old man, he?" Danny stated. "I guess that wasn't really Mac's wish, but yes, he enlisted right after he left school."

"And the little boy? How old is he? And who is his mom?" Flack asked, almost in his interrogation tone.

Stella noticed this, but decided to ignore it. She could imagine that the team wasn't so pleased to find out about Mac's family this way. "As far as I know Julien is two and his mother is a college student. If I remember right she is Max's puppy love."

Everyone in the room nodded, letting all the information sink in silently.

Turning around to the monitors Stella said: "If you want to know more, ask Mac. But for now, go back to work. You know we don't have time to waste, with the amount of cases we're working on."

A few seconds later Stella was alone in the AV-lab again. Looking around she spotted Mac sitting at his desk, staring off into space. She wondered what was on his mind and made a mental note to ask him once she was done with her footage.

Thanks for reading! What do you think? Good? Bad? Pleeeeease review.


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